The world of Sanctuary is about to get a whole lot bigger. . .

Introducing: Adventure Mode
In Diablo® III's upcoming expansion, Reaper of Souls™, players will have the opportunity to choose between two different modes whenever creating a new game: Campaign Mode and Adventure Mode.

Campaign Mode:

In Campaign Mode, players reprise their pivotal roles as the heroes of Sanctuary. With a greater focus on story, all of the quests, cut-scenes, and in-game movies will remain available to you in this mode. Progression through the game's five thrilling Acts is intentionally linear. Campaign Mode is very similar to the current Diablo III experience.

      

Adventure Mode:

In Adventure Mode, the majority of these story-driven elements have been removed and all waypoints have been unlocked, allowing players the freedom to explore and play the game however they like—even across all Acts. The world itself is your battlefield. Go anywhere, slay anything!

These modes can be accessed at any time, and you're welcome to switch between them whenever you please. In addition, we've unlocked all difficulty levels, giving you even more control over your in-game experience. Don't want to play through the story four times on each of your characters? Done. Looking to farm in Adventure Mode at one difficulty, then switch over to Campaign Mode at a different difficulty? You've got it.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Adventure Mode also includes two brand new, incredibly entertaining gameplay features: Bounties and Nephalem Rifts.

Bounties:

Having the ability to go wherever you want whenever you want is certainly compelling. But, what if you're not in the mood to choose your own adventure and would instead prefer a little direction? Enter Bounties.

Bounties are optional, randomized objectives available only in Adventure Mode. In addition to providing players with a guided experience within a specific Act, Bounties are also intended to showcase all the different content Diablo III has to offer. Some example of Bounties you can pick up include slaying a unique monster (like Mira Eamon), killing a boss (like Queen Aranae), clearing a dungeon (like the Khazra Den), and completing an event (like Last Stand of the Ancients).

Each Act will have its own set of randomized Bounties for players to explore and conquer, and you'll receive new Bounties each time you start a new Adventure Mode game.

For completing a set of Bounties, players will receive gold and experience. We also want Bounties to provide access to powerful Legendary items unique to the system, but we're still experimenting with how that reward mechanic will work. Definitely stay tuned!

Bounty hunters are also rewarded with a new item, Rift Keystones. Rift Keystones grant access to another feature we're introducing in Adventure Mode: Nephalem Rifts.

Nephalem Rifts:

Nephalem Rifts (previously called "Loot Runs") are randomized dungeons that are designed to be completed within 10-15 minutes. The goal of Nephalem Rifts is to provide players with a rewarding, endlessly replayable experience, one that continually offers new and exciting moment-to-moment gameplay. . .as well as heaps of loot. They're also what senior level designer Jesse McCree likes to describe as an opportunity to "break all the rules."

So, what does this mean in terms of actual gameplay?

First off, it means that Nephalem Rifts are completely randomized, featuring different content from Acts I-V—random interior and exterior tile sets, random layouts, random lighting and weather, random monsters, and (of course) a random boss encounter to cap it all off.  Each Nephalem Rift dungeon can be up to 10 levels deep, but even that's random too!

Here's just a peek at some of the crazy combinations you can experience as a result of this design:

In the spirit of breaking all the rules, Nephalem Rifts also include new shrines that will provide players with some pretty insane temporary buffs when activated, things like invulnerability, massive movement speed boosts, and a lightning aura that will one-shot any enemies who get within range. While these shrines would be overpowered in the campaign, they fit well within the self-contained environment of Nephalem Rifts.

We've had fun experimenting with monster density as well, which means there's always a chance your Nephalem Rift (or even one of the levels within a specific Rift you've opened) might suddenly get a little. . .crowded. For example, what would happen if we paired Skeleton Summoners from Act I and Morlu Incinerators from Act IV? Well, it'd look a little something like this:

 
(Pretty cool, right?)

To access Nephalem Rifts, simply bring a Rift Keystone to any town hub and click on the nearest Nephalem Obelisk. Step through the portal and get ready to kill ALL the things. As noted above, Rift Keystones can be earned by completing Bounties; however, they can also drop randomly anywhere in the world while in Adventure Mode.

Happy hunting!

BlizzCon 2013 Sneak Peek:
As a special treat, we've put together a short video featuring Nephalem Rifts in all their random, chaotic glory. Please enjoy this first look at Diablo III: Reaper of Souls!

Sneak Peek Her er en kort youtube video

If you're at BlizzCon® this weekend, you can try out Adventure Mode first-hand at the Diablo III: Reaper of Souls PC demo area in Hall A of the Anaheim Convention Center. Just queue for the "Adventure Mode" line and get ready to explore!

For those of you at home or tuning in with a Virtual Ticket, be sure to stay tuned to diablo3.com for all the latest new and updates, including panel recaps, interviews, photos and links to coverage from media and fan sites in attendance.

Below you'll find the preliminary PTR patch notes for 1.0.8. Please note that this isn't the final version of the 1.0.8 notes and that some changes may not be documented or described in full detail.
To provide feedback on these changes, please visit the PTR Feedback forum. To report any issues you experience while playing, please visit the the PTR Bug Report forum. Additional information about the PTR can be found in the PTR FAQ.

PTR PATCH 1.0.8 – v.1.0.8.15858

These notes will be updated through the course of the testing process. Please be aware some changes may not go live until a new PTR build is released.
Table of Contents

• General
• Achievements
• Auction House
• Battle.net
• Bosses
• Classes
• Crafting
• Monsters
• Quests
• User Inferface
• Bug Fixes

GENERAL

• Players can now identify all items in their inventory by speaking to Deckard Cain or by using the Book of Cain that can be found near the shared stash in all Acts
• The cooldown incurred by changing skills outside of town on Inferno difficulty has been reduced to 30 seconds (down from 60 seconds)
• There is now an option in Video Settings to lock the cursor to the window when in fullscreen windowed mode, if Diablo III is the active window
• Multiplayer Co-Op
• Players now receive a 10% bonus to Magic Find, Gold Find, and Experience per additional player in a multiplayer game, up to a maximum of 30% in a four-player game
• The Magic Find and Gold Find bonuses can exceed their respective 300% caps
• The Experience bonus can stack with other bonuses from items and Monster Power (the bonuses will stack multiplicatively)
• A notification is now sent to all players in a multiplayer game whenever a party member engages an Elite monster or Treasure Goblin in combat, and their location will be shown on the mini-map
• In addition to this, an icon will also appear over player banners in town to indicate if they're in combat with a monster, Elite monster, or Treasure Goblin

ACHIEVEMENTS

• Bug Fixes
• Fixed a bug that prevented monsters killed by a follower or pet, before being attacked by a player, from counting toward achievement criteria

AUCTION HOUSE

• User Interface
• Tooltips in the Auction House will now show an item comparison for a player's currently selected character

BATTLE.NET

• Matchmaking
• Players will now be able to search for games that were started on any quest once they have reached level cap
• Matchmaking "Tags" have been added
• In addition to selecting your Difficulty, Monster Power, and Quest, players will also be able to choose from the following tags when searching for Public Games: No Tag, Questing, Brawling, and Key Warden
• Social
• • Players can now add a note about a friend by right-clicking the name in their Friends List
  • Players can now enter a message that will be broadcast to their friends
  • Players can now create multi-user conversations
  • There are multiple ways to start a conversation or invite other players to an existing conversation:
  • To start a conversation, open Public Chat Options, then select Invite Friends > Start Conversation or use the "Start a Conversation" option in the Social window by right-clicking on a friend's name
  • To invite or add friends to an existing conversation, open Public Chat Options, then select Invite Friends or use the "Invite to a Conversation" option in the Social window by right clicking a friend's name and selecting the desired conversation
  • Similar to public channels, private conversations can support up to 99 players
  • A new section has been added to the friends list called "Players Near You"
  • Any player who is on your local network will be displayed here (even if they're not currently your friend)
  • If needed, this feature can be disabled from the Social Options of the Game menu
  • Players may now be marked as a "Party Guide"
  • The Party Guide is assigned to the first person who joins a Public Game
  • If multiple characters join a Public Game at the same time, the game will choose the hero with the highest level or Paragon level to be Party Guide
  • When a Party Guide leaves the Public Game, a new one will be chosen automatically
    Alternatively, the Party Guide can right click on a party member's portrait and pass them the Party Guide title
  • The Party Guide will have a unique icon that will appear on the mini-map
  • Names in your "Recent Players" list will now expire if they become older than a month
  • Blocked players will no longer appear in your "Recent Players" list

BOSSES

• Bug Fixes
• Skeleton King
• A bug causing The Skeleton King and The King of the Dead to not play an animation when performing their Whirlwind attack should now occur less frequently

CLASSES

• Wizard
• Active Skills
• Archon
• The duration of Archon should now be extended by assists from players in multiplayer games, in addition to kills
• Teleport
• Players may now Teleport to any location within range, as long as a path is available
• Bug Fixes
• Fixed a bug causing Teleport – Safe Passage to only reduce damage from physical attacks

CRAFTING

• General
• Players can now craft multiple items and gems at a time within the same tier, so long as they possess the necessary materials
• Players can now craft items using materials located in the shared stash
• Blacksmith
• • Salvaged item information will no longer be displayed in the chat log
  [li]Bug Fixes
• Fixed a bug preventing players from salvaging an item by dragging it onto the Blacksmith's anvil icon

MONSTERS

• General
• Players should now encounter more monsters in Acts I, II, and IV in Inferno difficulty when playing at Monster Power 1 or greater
• In multiplayer games, the increase in monster hit points per additional player has been reduced to 50% (down from 70%)
• Tormented Stingers and Stygian Crawlers have had their experience reduced by 75%

QUESTS

• General
• Experience earned by completing a quest is now granted to players that have reached the level cap

USER INTERFACE

• General
• A maximum of eight buffs and debuffs will now be displayed on the UI
• The maximum number of debuffs that will be displayed is three
• Bug Fixes
• Fixed a bug preventing damage numbers from being displayed if a monster was affected by a spell such as Hex

BUG FIXES

• The sound that plays whenever a Barbarian's Overpower ability comes off cooldown is no longer similar to a Legendary item dropping
• Male barbarians no longer run faster than the other heroes while feared.

Set ud fra Diablo 3 fans, er botting ved at have ramt et kritisk punkt, hvor flere og flere er begyndt at klage over problemet. Jeg læste en større tråd om det på et af b.nets forums tidligere idag, men det var hovedsageligt antagelser og beskyldninger uden noget realt indhold i forhold til hovedproblemet. Derfor vil jeg prøve at finde ud af hvad det hele handler om, finde ud af hvor profitabelt det er og hvilken indflydelse det har på Diablo 3 økonomi.

Dette post er et tidligt forsøg på at lave en opsamling af observationer og enkelte teorier omkring hvad, hvorfor og hvordan. Jeg ser frem til at læse feedback, uanset om du er enig eller uenig, da mere data = mere information og dermed bedre mulighed for at skabe sig en mening. Udfra den feedback jeg får, vil jeg prøve at skabe en konsensus.


Botting i D2 var for items.
Pindlebots og andre bots lavede flere tusind i søgen på værdigfulde uniks, sets og runer. Items havde lav chance for at droppe, men over tid vil et drop finde sted og items kunne sælges for real money på 3rd party sider.

Botting i D3 er for guld.
Det er let at lave bot runs med en high level character med GF gear og på Nightmare MP 10. Botten behøves ikke en gang samle items op, bare nakke monster og samle alt guld op på vejen. Ved et lille forsøg på Hell MP 10, med omkring 300% GF, kunne jeg nemt lave 200-300k på en time. Og det ved uden at have optimere min character for GF. Jeg går der for udfra at flere millioner om dagen ikke er noget problem for en fulds guld farming bot.

Hvad sælges guld for?
Jeg tjekkede lige via RMAH og 10m guld sælges for $4.2. (Tjekkede også et par 3rd party side og her sælges 10m guld for omkring $3.6, det er billigere men du skal heller ikke betale 15% til Blizzard)
Jeg ignorer at Blizzard tager en del af kagen i det næste eksempel. På GAH er et 100m item ca. $42 værd, et 500m item $210 og et 1mia item $420, men da RMAH slags loft er på $250, er items der sælge for mere end 600m på GAH prissat højere end hvad RMAH kan gå.
(I’m sure the Bobby surcharge is throwing off my figures a bit, once you figure a transaction fee to turn $ into gold, and then using that gold to buy the item, so someone who actually does the math feel free to correct.)

Hvorfor er guld så meget værd i Diablo 3?
Guld er nyttigt i Diablo 3, da der er et RMAH bygget direkte ind i spillet og at guld meget let kan sælges for rigtige $$, uden brugen af 3rd party sider. Spiller der ønsker det bedste gear bruger $ for at købe gold, som de bruger på GAH hvor det bedste gear koster 500m eller mere. Så meget ulig Diablo 2, kan du tjene $ uden at finde items, du sælger blot det guld du har samlet. Og hvis gold botter også kan sælge de ting de finder, så er det bare endnu mere guld, som de så kan sælge igen.

Gold botting gør således at priserne stiger på top end gear, siden der hele tiden bliver genereret mere guld via botting, og de $ der kommer ind i økonomien via RMAH fra guld, får cyklusen til at forsætte.
På den anden side, så er priserne på mid range og low end gear faldet helt til jorden, så spillere let kan få råd til gear de ikke kunne have købt tidligere. Det er dog uklart hvor meget botting interagere med patch 1.05 og øgede drop rates, der øger mængden af gode items og dermed sænker prisen.


Skaber RMAH botting?
Ikke rigtig. Som Diablo 2 beviste, så vil der altid være et sort markede, det vil dog være mere besværligt, med alle de former for hacks, viruser og rip offs, osv. I stedet vil spillere bare sælge deres ting direkte for $, eller det vil veksle $ til guld, som de så kunne bruge i GAH.

Hvis der ikke var noget AH, vil vi være tilbage som i Diablo 2, hvor hele økonomien var baseret på 3rd party sider, som måske vil skære ned på botteriet, da guld ikke vil være lige så let at omsætte til $. Det vil dog ikke ændre på det underliggende problem, at folk er villige til at betale $ for items og nok skal finde en måde at gøre det på.

Prøver Blizzard at stoppe botting?
Det er svært at sige. Botting er ulovligt og er i klar uoverensstemmelse med EULA og ToS. Accounts fundet skyldig i brugen af bots eller andre 3rd party programmer kan blive slettet.

Gør Blizzard så det? Laver de scans for at finde botters? De fleste mener ikke de gør noget.

Blizzard har fornyeligt annonceret at nogle spillere er blevet bannet, men disse var fra den asiatiske realm og de brugte et UI-mod, som ikke havde noget med botting at gøre. Blizzard har annonceret nogle botting og cheating bans i Diablo 3, men den generelle følelse er at botting er et stigende problem, og det er uklart om Blizzard kan stoppe det eller om de selv ikke prøver.

Skader eller hjælper botting Blizzard?
Dette er det mest debattable og afhænger af formodninger og teorier.

Flere bots = mere guld = højere priser i GAH = mere guld solgt i RMAH. På nuværende tidspunkt er det stort set umuligt at farme nok guld til at kunne købe top gear. Den eneste måde du kan skaffe så meget guld er ved at botte, ved at være heldig ved salg a gode ting på GAH eller ved at købe det på RMAH.

På den anden side, så gør de høje priser at nogen spillere føler sig frustreret og derfor stopper, hvilket selvfølgelig skader det total items salgs tal.

Så botting skaber højere og fører til guld salg på RMAH, hvilket gør Bobby rigere.
Men de høje priser og den generelle tone af "folk snyder" gør at nogle spillere stopper, hvilket gør Bobby ulykkelig.

Hvad er det resultatet så...? Jeg ved det ikke og jeg er nysgerring for at høre jeres meninger.

Konklusion?
Der er ikke nogen konklusion. Skriv din meninger og teorier her, jeg vil tilføje dem jeg ikke har nævnt.